The present subject matter relates generally to systems and methods of processing transaction payments. More specifically, the present subject matter provides systems and methods in which transactions are processed for payment from any of a plurality of applicable purses associated with an account, wherein the plurality of purses include values defined by: currency; SKUs; discounts; conditional values; loyalty points; or other non-standard currencies and/or various combinations thereof.
For marketing and other purposes, merchants often provide offers or rewards to their customers. In some instances, the merchant may provide offers or rewards based on units of goods or services (e.g., a free milkshake). Such offers or rewards may be conditional or unconditional. In an example of a conditional offer or reward, prior to earning the reward, the customer may need to meet some predetermined criteria (e.g., receive a free milkshake on a purchase of $10 dollars or more).
The reward can be measured in something other than units of goods or services. In other examples, the rewards may be based on an unconditional value (e.g., an unconditional $10 credit), an unconditional discount (e.g., an unconditional 10% discount), a conditional value (e.g., a $10 credit is provided after specified conditions are met), a conditional discount (e.g., a 10% discount is provided after specified conditions are met), etc.
As a result of these varied offers and rewards, a single transaction may include a combination of values to process. For example, a transaction at a fast food restaurant may include a hamburger, a milkshake, and fries. Each of the goods has an independent price associated with it, which combine to create a total transaction price. But when a reward is provided such that the milkshake is free, the merchant needs to manage a transaction in which a unit of goods (e.g., a milkshake) needs to be credited against a total cash value. We refer to such transactions as non-standard currency transactions.
Currently, merchant offers and rewards that result in non-standard currency transactions are redeemed either manually, such as by entering paper certificates, or performed directly with the Point of Sale (POS) system of the merchant, for example crediting a line item in a transaction. The former is a poor consumer experience and is resource intensive. The latter requires significant interaction at the POS resulting in an inefficient process.
In addition, the payment of such non-standard currency transactions is complicated by the lack of non-standard currency transaction mechanisms. For example, conventional transaction cards, such as loyalty cards, gift cards, and other payment cards, are based on a monetary currency, such as the U.S. dollar. However, having only one value type for payment cards is limiting and does not allow a merchant to provide the creative incentives and marketing tools described herein.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods of transacting that provide merchants and consumers with transactional cards including a plurality of value types, as described and claimed herein.